360° A Revolution of Black Poets

by Kwame Alexander

At poetry slams, in coffee houses and cafes, on spoken word CDs, and even featured in Hollywood movies, a new and exciting renaissance of Black poetry is emerging out of the oral tradition of African-American culture. 360: A Revolution of Black Poets presents the cutting edge of this poetic firestorm sweeping across America. Featuring five pages per poet, 360 presents forty established and emerging Black poets in an anthology of contemporary verse. Stylistically there is everything from rap-like performance verse to haiku, political rants to lyrical love songs, narrative tales to personal meditations. 360 is a treasure map of Black poetry. 360 is published in conjunction with a two-day series of poetry readings, workshops, and film screenings at the Baltimore Museum of Art (Sept. 11) and the University of Maryland-College Park (Sept. 12). Edited by New Orleans writer/producer Kalamu ya Salaam with writer/publisher Kwame Alexander, 360 includes sharp-edged n! ew work from Amiri Baraka, a historic founder of the sixties Black Arts Movement, complemented by a moving elegy for a friend with cancer from activist/poet Tony Medina, editor of an award-winning anthology on political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. Grand divas Sonia Sanchez, author of Wounded in the House of a Friend and Does Your House Have Lions, and Mari Evans, author of the classic I Am a Black Woman, are displayed side by side with the youthful albeit sophisticated musings of Apollo Showtime winner Jessica Care Moore and Pulitzer prize nominee Ruth Forman. Haki Madhubuti, who has sold over 3 million books, and poetry slam World Heavyweight Champ Quincy Troupe mix it up with performance poet D-Knowledge (featured in Poetic Justice and Higher Learning) and Dark Room Collective founder Thomas Sayers Ellis. The table of contents is a poetic who's who. From Emmy-winning West Coast writer Wanda Coleman and legendary playwright/novelist/poet Ntozake Shange, to Abiodun Oyewole! , a founding member of the Last Poets, and Mannafest, a Lon! don-based female duo, the range of Black poets is encyclopedic. 360 is one of the most eclectic poetry anthologies in decades. 360 poets Kwame Alexander, Amiri Baraka, Ras Baraka, Toni Blackman, Nadir Lasana Bomani, Roger Bonair-Agard, Kysha N. Brown, Wanda Coleman, Kamau Daaood, D-Knowledge, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Mari Evans, Stacey Lyn Evans, Ruth Forman, Peter J. Harris, Angela Jackson, June Jordan, Carolyn Cooley Joyner, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Haki Madhubuti, MANNAFEST, Laini Mataka, Tony Medina, E. Ethelbert Miller, Jessica Care Moore, Tracie Morris, Abiodun Oyewole, Eugene Redmond, DJ Renegade, Kate Rushin, Kalamu ya Salaam, Sonia Sanchez, Ntozake Shange, Glenis Redmond Sherer, Nichole L. Shields, Askia M. Toure, Quincy Troupe, wadud, and Afaa Michael Weaver.

Genres: Poetry

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and New York Times Bestselling author of 21 books, including The Crossover, which received the 2015 John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American literature for Children, the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and the Passaic Poetry Prize. Kwame writes for children of all ages. His other works include Surf's Up, a picture book; Booked, a middle grade novel; and He Said She Said, a YA novel.

Kwame believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people through his PAGE TO STAGE Writing and Publishing Program released by Scholastic. A regular speaker at colleges and conferences in the U.S., he also travels the world planting seeds of literary love (Singapore, Brazil, Italy, France, Shanghai, etc.). Recently, Alexander led a delegation of 20 writers and activists to Ghana, where they delivered books, built a library, and provided literacy professional development to 300 teachers, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an International literacy program he co-founded.

Reviews

[David Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have never been fully domesticated
but i have been civilized

by women taught that the heart
is more than a muscle

a life drum whose function is
both physical blood pumping
and spiritual longing to be embraced

but love, ah love is a river
we may get wet
but we can never drink it all
love always flows on
more than we can ever swallow

no matter how thirsty
we claim to be


"AS SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK" By Kalamu ya Salaam

4.5 stars ** Read in New Orleans, Biloxi, and Harlem (Dec 2025 to Jan 2026)

[Seven · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read.